Chapter 721 Elenor The Malignant.
The Devils of the Devil tribe while innately chaotic and enthusiastic seekers of gore and pain infliction, did have organized structures and that was especially the case for the Devil Chief's Estate.
Hal and Sassy went invisible... he granted Sassy the ability so that she could walk by his side and keep an especially sharp eye on the surroundings as she planned to spring into attack at a moment's notice.
Sassy had her two dangers in hand but did not imbue them with her toxins or make use of her cultivation in any way as that would immediately deactivate her invisibility and ruin the whole point of being covert.
While invisible, they could still see each other but there was a kind of translucent feel to it that made it clear that the effect of the Invisibility was on.
From the time Hal was in front of the Estate gates that were guarded by guards who had not given them enough notice to consider them as potential threats, he had sensed that the estate was thick with Arrays... Some of the Arrays were specifically designed to sniff out any intruder.
There was only so much Hal could actually tell from just sensing the arrays but he knew there was a precise protocol that would require him given permission to enter the estate and without that protocol followed, his presence would be instantly sensed.
Everyone who was on the estate had something on some part of their bodies that made that permission clear and those who did not possess this stamp would be regarded as outsiders.
With the complete activation of his Primeval Devil bloodline which he had received from his mother, Hal had acquired new sets of abilities among which was a seamless shapeshifting (in the form of transforming into a perfect copy of any individual) potent enough to fool even those of higher cultivation than him.
This ability was actually more useful to Nihasa's minions and would have been available to Hal the moment he went past his previous Mid-World Devil form but he had skipped all those steps to arrive where he now was.
Anyway, Hal had never had a real use for it, and even now that it was available to him, he opted for invisibility...
If he transformed into a perfect copy of someone allowed entry into the Estate, he knew he would not be able to transfer their permission stamps... Plus, that would just delay matters.
His invisibility worked much better...
He and Sassy had nothing to worry about in regards to the detection of anyone they came across or any of the Arrays in the estate. His invisibility trumped them all.
Only the absolutely high-ranking saints would get a whiff of their presence and even then, it would not be clear to them.
Traveling while invisible was much more muted and took more time but both Hal and Sassy used that time to good effect and heard enough chatter to know where exactly to head to.
...
The Chieftess of the Devil Tribe, Elenor the Malignant, had on the ceremonial attire of the ruler of the tribe and sat herself down on the throne within the Deliberation hall.
Elenor had her brown hair braided but it was not a fashion statement and was done for the sake of efficiency- Her Efficiency. That wasn't to say she wasn't beautiful... Quite the opposite in fact.
Elenor's choices worked for her... Her ceremonial attire was mostly consisting of an extravagant cape while the main attire was flimsy and did well to expose her ample assets. Elenor was sexy but to her sexuality was meaningless.
She did not dress the way she did to entice any man or distract them from the threat she posed- She dressed the way she did because that was what she preferred and it had never proven a hindrance.
Any man who knew her knew she was strong-willed and her people knew that she ruled with an iron fist with a love for bloody battles.
The most well-known legend of Elenor the Malignant was at a time before she became chieftess and went to war against the Haron continent and at some point, the strap that had held the two triangles that Covered her nipples snapped off.
Elenor could not have cared less... She went on fighting and when she faced the opposing general, she was batted in the blood of all that she had slaughtered... The blood formed a thick covering for her nipples.
The ruthlessness with which she had fought was more the reason the legend was popular than the fact that her breasts had been unfettered for a good portion of the battle.
Elenor loved combat to an insane degree even... Too much of an insane degree even if it was taken into account that she was a member of the Devil tribe.
Elenor was a mother of two and she had been alive for three millennia- She was a woman that could surely be qualified as beautiful-sexy even but anyone who focussed on all this would be making a mistake that would cost them their lives.
Anyway, the gathering in the deliberation hall was not an official meeting but to listen to reports on the going-ons of the territory belonging to her Tribe as well as the goings-on of the entire segment over which she surveyed.
Plus, it was not so long ago that the youngsters of her tribe and the entire Dystopian continent, in general, had waged war within the Monument of Ordinances and that remained a popular topic of discussion.
Especially with the current messenger of the Continental Council- The Continental Council being the council of Elenor and the other three ruling powers of the Dystopian continent.
"'... regret to report that according to news of the battles within the monument, our Dystopian youngsters can not be paraded as victors. They are, at best, survivors of gruesome battles'" said the messenger as he rolled up the scroll from which he had been reading.
Elenor had a hand on her cheek and rolled her eyes at the report.
She did not need it read to know what was the state of the Continent. She did not need that read to know that they were no closer to the plans of victory over the Haron continent than they had been for hundreds of thousands of years.
"I blame that idiot for having to listen to this shit. Making stupid council decisions that make absolutely no sense" Elenor said in anger and the idiot she was referring to was the head of the Serpent Clan who had not sided with her during the last continental council meeting.
It was during that meeting that the heads of the Dragon Phoenix clan passed a rule for a general compilation of reports for whatever happened within the monument.
The rule made it so that Elenor and the head of the Serpent Tribe had to listen to this lengthy report and the fact that they listened must be witnessed by the messenger sent with the report.
Elenor had objected, the head of the Serpent Clan remained on the fence and both the Dragon and Phoenix clan heads claimed the majority and agreed on an idea they came up with together.
It was these little things that added up to her growing suspicion.
The growing suspicion that the Dragon and Phoenix clan were becoming closer than they should be and as that would put the Devil Tribe's hegemony at risk, it was a matter that took precedence.
"Is that all?" Elenor asked in an impatient tone.
"Yes it is, your Excellency," said the messenger with a bow.
"Stamp it," Elenor said to no one in particular but one of the ladies who stood close to her throne stepped forward to seal the report... Making it official that the Devil Chieftess had been attentive to all that was read.
The messenger kept the report in his spatial ring and then lingered,
"Your Excellency, is there perhaps any sensitive matter you would like for me to report to the council," he asked and by the council, he meant the other three heads of the ruling powers of the continent- or more accurately, the Dragon and Phoenix clan heads.
"No- not a..." Elenor began but then suddenly paused and the reason for her pause was clear to everyone as the double doors into the deliberation hall were suddenly pushed open.
Everyone in the hall found it curious and they all turned their eyes toward the double doors without being able to sense what might have caused the opening.
Elenor's ears perked as though she could detect a presence and she could... The detection was faint and occasionally, it seemed to diverge and again converge.
It took barely a second for a red circle containing a Pentagram to appear in front of Elenor and out of that circle shot spikes formed of Devil energy.
The spikes cut through the spot she had been targeting in even less time than it had taken to form them and they went right through empty air to get stuck on the wall after which that dissipated.
Silence...
No one knew what she had shot at but all members of the Devil tribe knew and were confident in the fact that their leader had detected something that they could not.
It was further proof of her superiority even if no proof was needed.
And then a voice sounded two meters away from where she had shot her spikes.
"As expected of an expert of your caliber. You almost got me" Hal said just as he became visible in the deliberation Hall and raised his hand in a wave.
"Hello there, I mean no harm- I only come with a Proposition that will change your lives..."